World

41 French High Schools Blockaded After Students Return From Break

By Al Jazeera Staff

The French Ministry of Education reported that 41 high schools were blocked on Monday, about one percent of the country’s 3,700 schools, as students returned from a two‑week holiday break. The blockades occurred in Paris, Marseille and Rennes, according to Reuters. Education Minister Edouard Geffray told France Inter that the number of blockades was very marginal, describing them as a handful of individual schools. He said that while protests were allowed, preventing access to schools was illegal and could jeopardise the school year for several hundred thousand pupils. The protests, which began in the Paris suburbs in September and spread across France, have expanded beyond education to include concerns about the cost of living, drawing in trade unionists and activists. Last month, some demonstrations turned violent, with clashes with police and riots in several cities. Students are demanding renovation of ageing schools, more teachers, more university places and an end to a university admissions system they view as socially unfair. In response, the government announced a gradual replacement of the Parcoursup admissions platform by 2028, cancelled planned education job cuts, promised 500 additional posts, capped first‑year high‑school classes at 28 pupils, pledged 4 billion euros to renovate schools and 15,000 new places in higher education. Student representatives said the offers were insufficient and vowed to continue protesting. Pierre Sourzat, president of the student organisation Les Lyceens!, said on Sunday that they were still calling for a blockade. The Union Syndicale Lyceenne and Student Union have called for further blockades on Tuesday and Thursday, while the UNEF student union said Tuesday should be a “black day” for universities, with blockades across the country.